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The recreational red snapper season for Gulf state waters opens to harvest Memorial Day weekend. Red snapper is a popular species that has a strong economic impact for many coastal communities throughout Florida.

Newcomer Diana Topping and returnee Heath Davis were sworn in on the Cedar Key City Commission on Tuesday, along with incumbent Commissioner Sue Colson. All three were elected on May 5.

The first order of business was electing a mayor and Topping's motion to choose Davis was unanimously approved. Dale Register, who has been mayor, was chosen vice mayor by a 3-2 vote, defeating Colson. Colson and Davis voted for her.

One thing is certain about the three bridges of Cedar Key that the Florida Department of Transportation plans to replace: no final decisions have been made on construction options for the Lewis Pass bridge on Gulf Boulevard and the C Street/Dock Street bridge.

The proposals on the Daughtry Bayou bridge on Gulf Boulevard are non-controversial, said Nelson Bedenbaugh, senior project manager for FDOT District 2. He and Jordan Green updated the Levy County Commission on the status of the projects on Tuesday.

Lauren Bartholemy, daughter of Stephen Bartholemy and Jolie and Heath Davis of Cedar Key, graduated May 8 from the Naval Academy Prepratory School in Newport, R.I., a one-year program that prepares individuals for life as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Bartholemy is a 2014 graduate of Cedar Key High School.

While at NAPS, she was chosen platoon commander and paraded her fellow classmates during the review that is part of the graduation ceremony.

A proposed massive limerock mine on King Road in Inglis that stirred passions and controversy just a few years ago over the issuance of a special exception permit to strip 6.8 million tons of rock annually on 2,757 acres of a 4,750-acre site for 110 years quietly changed hands on Tuesday.

Tarmac America LLC, a subsidiary of Titan America, first applied for a Levy County special exception permit in 2004. It was finally approved by the Levy County Commission by a vote of 3-1 after an emotion-fraught public hearing that went almost eight hours.

South Levy Volunteer Fire Chief Roger Crossman sat patiently through last Tuesday's Levy County Commission meeting before asking if he could address the panel. He said the department is broke and could the commission help with $8,610 in bills.

“We took a pretty heavy hit on our budget for the year,” he said, noting it had been reduced.

He said the department must pay $5,906 for insurance by May 10 or the vehicles cannot answer calls. The rest of the money is needed for repairs and maintenance on the department's vehicles.

Walter Brown has accepted the city's request to provide building and development services to Cedar Key, but outgoing Commissioner Nettie Hodges says Fire Chief Robert Robinson should be asked to take the duties back.

The city was left without services after a man who accepted the position decided to refuse the $35,000 a year job citing high health insurance costs, and Fire Chief Robert Robinson, who was being paid $10,000 a year for performing the job on an interim basis, resigned the additional work.